Why Were They In The Maze In The First Place (And Other Unanswered Questions)?
There are a number of unanswered questions left after Maze Runner: The Death Cure. What happened to the rest of the world after Thomas and the Right Arm founded their safe haven? What is the island exactly and how is it safe from the Flare? How exactly is the cure harvested from an Immune? Why was the Maze so integral to developing a viable cure? The Maze Runner 3 ending explained much, but also ultimately only left audiences with just clues for the biggest mysteries.
It’s reasonable that the rest of the world eventually died out, consumed by the Flare virus and the violence it inspires. Moreover, it’s viable that island was scouted by the Right Arm (or, based ob the mythology established in the books, the information of its location was given to the Right Arm by WCKD). However, since it’s unclear how exactly the Flare virus transfers between humans – direct contact can result in infection, but it’s also stated in the movie that the virus is airborne – and whether animals can transfer the virus, it’s impossible to know whether the island is actually safe.
Indeed, the science of Maze Runner: The Death Cure, is one aspect that the Maze Runner 3 ending explained too little about. The best explanation that’s given for how the cure is harvested from an Immune is when Minho is being terrorized with hallucinations of the Maze and Grievers and his blood is taken and turned into a light blue liquid. Further, one of the WCKD scientists states that the best samples for a viable cure were taken from those Immunes who experienced the Maze trials.
The Maze somehow creates a reaction within the body of an Immune that has the highest chance of producing a viable cure – but why exactly the Maze, and nothing else, can cause this reaction within the body is never explained. It can perhaps be presumes that the Maze was designed based on WCKD’s previous research for a cure, but that’s not directly stated within the films (though how the Maze was built is the premise for the prequel novel, The Fever Code). Essentially, Thomas and his friends were in the Maze under the guise of WCKD searching for a cure, but all along Paige had abandoned the hope of a cure and was working on sending all the Immunes to a safe haven where they could rebuild society away from the Flare and the Cranks. Although the Maze Runner: The Death Cure ending leaves much to be inferred by the viewer, it does offer at least an optimistic – if fatalistic – conclusion to The Maze Runner trilogy.
Does The Maze Runner Franchise Have A Future
It currently doesn’t seem as though Maze Runner: The Death Cure will be getting a sequel, as there has been no official word from Disney on any sequel or spinoff plans – though the entire Maze Runner series can be viewed on Disney+. Also, the Maze Runner 3 ending explained the core mysteries already. Curiously, those who’ve seen the trilogy may be surprised to learn about The Maze Runner: The Kill Order, a short film by director Madison Traub based on the first chapters of the James Dasher book of the same name. For now, however, it remains to be seen whether the audience clamor and rumors regarding the possibility of Maze Runner 4 will actually bear fruit.